Reading McLaughlin's poems is like listening to Janis sing. You feel this gutsy broad way down deep in your bones. She didn't just write these poems. She's lived in them and with them all her life.

In understanding early Christianity (i.e. Jesus and the first Christians), the N.T. materials can be analyzed in their various dimensions (e.g., historical, theological, experiential, etc.). What N.T. Wright has provided for us by way of his treatment of the second-temple Jewish, historical background of Jesus and the first Christians, Dunn has done for us via his treatment of the experiential dimension. This is not to "reduce" their faith to subjective experiences, but to show how their relation to God was reflected in their various experiences of God's Spirit. This helps us to discover in what ways Jesus' own experiences were distinctive (or unique), and, at the same time, like those of the first believers.

One of the major points Dunn brings out is, that both Jesus' and the first Christian's experience of the Spirit was "eschatological" in nature: they experienced an outpouring of the Spirit and understood themselves to be living, now, in the new age to come. This awareness, on Jesus' part, led him to understand himself as the one who was bringing in the kingdom of God, as his Son, and manifested itself in the first believers as a full and diversified experience of the Spirit, which was determinative for every aspect of their lives, not least in their worship. Dunn discusses the various charismata and admonitions by Paul, in responding to the disruptions in the Corinthian church, to safeguard against their misuse.

One of the major claims in his book is, that in the resurrection appearances to the apostles, the experience included a commission to proclaim the gospel--this, he maintains, was one of the "distinctive" features of the resurrection appearances. In this interpretation, of course, Dunn is trying to explain the experiential basis for the apostolic authority.

Dunn also stresses the "not yet" side of the Christian experience, and interprets Paul's comments in Romans 7 in these terms: the Christian experiences the tension caused by still living within the present age (a point Gordon Fee has challenged in his writings). In this regard, Dunn has an excellent discussion of Paul's stress on sharing (and glorying) in the suffering of Christ--it is precisely through sharing in his (Jesus') death that we may be conformed to his life. This, for Paul, was the basis of his gospel and in what he gloried.

Dunn displays an obvious appreciation of the charismatic nature of the life of the first Christains, and on several occasions cautions against simply "reading off" or dismissing the Spirit phenomena witnessed in the N.T. While he does not argue for accepting each particular incident of a "miracle" story, nevertheless, he maintains that we need to remain objective in our evaluation of such phenomena and not arbitrarily dismiss them on the basis of a supposed more enlightened modern view.

This work is one of the few of its kind, and provides another important interpretative dimension to help us understand the origin of Christian faith and actual experiences of Jesus and the first Christians. It is a very sensitive and objective treatment, and has direct relevance to Christological study in particular.

James Dunn is, in my opinion, a model scholar. He begins from liberal presuppositions but his conclusions tend to be quite conservative.

As a liberal, Dunn does not assume that the Bible is inerrant; for each issue he raises, he proceeds to examine the evidence in detail. But despite his liberal presuppositions, he always employs careful exegesis. He does not make unwarranted leaps from the biblical text to supposed extra-biblical parallels, but closely examines the biblical text in its own light before extending his inquiry cautiously outwards.

It is widely recognized that there is a large conceptual leap between Jesus (as presented in the Gospels) and Paul. Jesus lived as a Jew, in obedience to the Law of Moses, and he restricted his mission to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt. 15:24). Paul devoted himself primarily to the conversion of Gentiles. He held that Gentiles could be saved apart from circumcision and other works of the Law, asserting that Christ was "the end of the Law" (Ro. 10:3).

Dunn argues that the conceptual link is not as unbridgable as many scholars assume. Indeed, he argues that Jesus' attitude toward the Law constitutes a bridge to later Christianity. In Dunn's opinion, Paul was merely following Jesus' position to its logical conclusion, responding to issues as they subsequently arose in early Church history in a way that was consistent with Jesus' own stance.

For example, Dunn examines Mark 7 in detail. (There Jesus is reported to have "declared all foods clean".) Dunn does not assume that Mark's report is historical, but weighs the evidence pro and con. He ultimately concludes that Jesus made a somewhat ambiguous statement. Mark interpreted it one way; Matthew interpreted it somewhat differently. It was the ambiguity of Jesus' position which gave rise to subsequent controversy in the Church. Yet Jesus did lay a foundation for the position ultimately expounded by Paul.

Such a brief summary does not do justice to Dunn's approach, however. The value of the book is in its detailed argumentation. In addition to his careful exegesis, Dunn builds on the research of E. P. Sanders on extra-biblical Jewish literature -- though Dunn reaches different conclusions than those of Sanders. At various points, Dunn explores the intertestamental history recorded in 1 and 2 Maccabees, he discusses "Jesus, the Pharisees, and sinners" -- in direct response to Sanders -- and he talks about the Hellenists (see Acts 6:1ff.) as a historical bridge between Jesus and Paul. He also attempts to unravel controversies in the early Church -- notably that between Paul, Barnabas, Peter and James (see Gal. 2).

The net effect is to set Jesus in a broad historical context: Dunn reaches back to critical intertestamental events, carefully considers Jesus' position vis-a-vis the Pharisees, and proceeds forward through the Hellenists to Paul and other early Christian leaders. The broad sweep of the argument is, to my mind, quite persuasive.

The book is not a light read! It consists of a series of articles on individual New Testament texts. Dunn wrote the articles as part of his research for a commentary on Romans (since published in the Word Biblical Commentary series). Each article was published in a theological journal, thus each chapter of this book has been submitted to scholarly review. In compiling the book, Dunn has added a brief appendix to each chapter, in which he responds to the scholarly critique of each original article. Given the detailed nature of the argumentation, and the scholarly audience to which the articles were originally directed, readers may find it a difficult read. It is not necessary to read Greek in order to make sense of the book, however.

The first few chapters of the book focus on the Gospel of Mark; the remainder of the book examines passages critical to the interpretation of Paul's letter to the Galatians.

To a scientific mind, there is no such thing as "the last word" on any given subject. Other scholars vigorously dissent from Dunn's conclusions. But for Christians who are troubled by the radical scepticism of many scholars, Dunn demonstrates that conservative conclusions can be defended in a responsible manner.

This book provides an excellent overview of some of the most important current topics in Historical Jesus Study. They include:(1) a study of Galilee at the time of Jesus (by E. P. Sanders); (2) a comparison and analysis of Jesus's teachings with the doctrines contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls (by Daniel J. Harrington); (3) some preliminary musings by John P. Meier about how he will reconcile the Elijah-like miracle working prophet who has emerged to date from his "Marginal Jew" series with the early remembrance of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah; (4)an assement of the important role of oral traditions as sources for the Gospels (by James D. G. Dunn); and finally, a respected systematic theologian's perspective on the importance and usefulness of honest and objective historical Jesus research in terms of nurturing the Christian faith (by Elizabeth A. Johnson).

The contributors are all leading scholars who are excited about their subjects. They brilliantly employ the tools of honest, objective, historical criticism--but they also do not apologise for their faith. This short collection provides an excellent introduction to the work and thought processes of these wonderful scholars. I recommend it highly.

I'd LOVE to go out with this woman! Although there are a few holes in her attempts to find statistical corroboration of her claims, the book is generally a mesmerizing page-turner. Denfeld has a writing style which is as clean and crisp as any good boxer's punches---a pleasure to read and then to ponder. This book takes a position which is truly seldom heard on either side of the ideological fence...absolutely refreshing! Should be required reading for all 12 year old girls, before the adolescent cultural programming kicks in.

Know Him, Serve Him: Discover God's Radical Plan For Your Life by Sean Dunn is a candid and revealing look at what it takes to be able to hear God and know what He is most concerned about. Individual chapters focus on building a personal relationship with God, listening to what God has to say and learning about God's heart and what it means to serve Him. A profoundly spiritual and personal guide, Know Him, Serve Him is especially recommended reading for those wanting to influence others within a Christian context and toward Christian life goals.

In the summer of 1968, Edward Dolan Jr was ten years old and living with his mother and sister, in Hawaii while his father, an army lieutenant, was on a tour of duty in Viet Nam. It was also the year his best friend, Carrie, accidently fell from a cliff to her death. Edward remembers that he tried to save her. He held on to her wrists as long as he could before she slipped away. Now, 32 years later, as he's stopped at a light on a Los Angeles street, he observes a gang incident that causes a flashback and brings the memory of that day, the worst day of his life, into focus. Only now he's not so sure what really happened..... Terrence Dunn has written a powerful and compelling novel that weaves a seamless story of three lives: Edward, his father and Carrie, together, on that one fateful day. His well paced plot is tense and suspenseful, as you're drawn into the story and catapulted back to the Viet Nam War and the sixties and his eloquent writing is crisp and spare. But it's Mr Dunn's very original and painstakingly drawn characters that makes this book really stand out. With a stunning climax that will leave you breathless, La Chute is an amazing story you won't be able to put down and a novel you'll want to lend and share and talk about.

While I have not read this entire book, today I heard the author himself read the (20 min!) poem, "Loves" from this book. After speaking with Stephen Dunn at the 1999 Millenium Future Leaders Summit, in connection with the White House Millenium Lectures, I can assure you that he is a highly interesting person, speaker and poet. His works are very introspective and offer a lot of entertainment, education, and thoughts to ponder! This is, I am sure, an excellent book.

I Really liked this book it was easy for my little girl to follow along. The pages are oversized and very colorful!! We read the book to my daughters class and all the children enjoyed it. The children could see and participate from the rear of the classroom. The book is set up like a large colorful alphapet flash card. THE CHARACTER LEONARD HAS A NEW AND FRESH PERSONALITY.! THE WHOLE CLASS FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BOOK.

This is a fabulous book for children of multi-cultural background. It is really important to develop the language skills of your child early on.
This book helps doing this in a fun and educational way.
I cant wait to see some in different languages...